BySchuyler Velasco, CorrespondentJune 26, 2012

Flats of green leaf and red leaf lettuce plants are shown in Sutton, Mass., in this file photo. The Dole salad recall 2012 includes bagged lettuce sold at Kroger and Wal Mart stores in the southeastern US with possible listeria contamination.

Dole Fresh Vegetables has recalled 1,077 cases of pre-bagged salad sold at Wal Mart stores and Kroger supermarkets in six US states due to possible listeria contamination.

So far, no related illnesses have been reported. The California-based fruit and vegetable giant has said that affected bags should be pulled from shelves by now, but the company is urging stores to double check for recalled salad bags. The recall was issued after a random sample of Wal Mart Marketside Leafy Romaine tested positive for listeria in South Carolina.

The recall involves bagged salad sold in six Southeastern states – Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia – under the Kroger Fresh Selections and Wal Mart Marketside labels. The affected products are:

No other Kroger Fresh Selections or Wal Mart Marketside produce is affected. To figure out if you have a recalled bag, check for the Product Code and “Use-by” date in the upper right-hand corner of the package, and then the UPC code on the back of the package below the barcode.

The salad bags are now eight days past their “Use-by” dates, and the FDA considers it unlikely that they would still be available on retail shelves. But Dole is still trying to confirm that the salads are completely off the retail market. Customers with recalled bags should throw them away.

But neither of the Dole recalls come close to the September 2011 recall of 2500 cartons of romaine lettuce from True Leaf Farms in Salinas, Calif., due to a listeria outbreak. That recall, which didn’t involve Dole Fresh Vegetables, included a whopping 33,000 pounds of chopped lettuce.

But there’s good news: the listeria recalls were issued as a result of more aggressive food testing by federal officials, who claimed back in 2011 that they were better able to detect listeria and salmonella in food supplies.

Consumers who would like to contact Dole directly can call the company’s Consumer Response Center at (800) 356-3111, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. PDT. To view the full recall, as well as photos of the recalled salad bags, visit the announcement on the FDA’s website.